News, notes and reader questions about the San Francisco 49ers

July 31, 2012

Safety Donte Whitner had strong words for the Saints and their bounty program on Monday. Apparently, the Saints were listening.

Linebacker Scott Shanle took to Twitter today to essentially tell Whitner to butt out. "Guy needs to shut his mouth and mind his own business. Don't remember them winning the superbowl. U still ringless. We got one and working on two now. Try to keep up."

Whitner on Monday discussed the irony of his famous knock-out hit in the divisional playoff game against the Saints. He said that good defenses with good players don't need bounties, and he painted a sharp contrast between what was going on in the Saints and 49ers defensive meeting rooms before the game.

"He's the same guy he is each and every game, and you can appreciate that," Whitner said of defensive coordinator Vic Fangio. "Because some coaches get into that moment the night before the game, the day of the game and you really don't know who they are. They change into another person. Because they're as nervous or even more nervous than the players are. But you don't really see that with Vic."

"If you have the right type of guys in that room, you don't have to set bounties or pay money for guys to play physical and play hard," Whitner said. "It's going to come naturally. That's the type of guys we have on our defense. That's why we don't have to do those type of things."

It's odd that Shanle would tell Whitner to mind his own business. The Saints, after all, were discussing injuries to Whitner's offensive teammates on Jan. 13, which makes it his business. The two teams face off in New Orleans Nov. 25. Prepare your popcorn.

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The 49ers activated fourth-round pick Joe Looney from the non-football injury list after he passed a physical today. Looney suffered a Lisfranc (foot/ankle) injury in January. It's not know whether Looney will line up at left or right guard when the 49ers resume practice Wednesday.

MATTHEW BARROWS

Matt was born in Blacksburg, Va., and attended the University of Virginia. He graduated in 1995, went to Northwestern for a journalism degree a year later, and got his first job at a South Carolina daily in 1997. He joined The Bee as a Metro reporter in 1999 and started covering the 49ers in 2003. His favorite player of all time is Darrell Green.